Disaster politics

Thursday, 31 July 2014   International relations   15 comments 

The last few weeks have reminded that in recent years something rather unpleasant has entered politics.

9/11 – the event that never happened

Monday, 12 September 2011   State of the parties   8 comments 

9/11 and the War on Terror didn’t mark the start of Labor’s problems, it marked the temporary suspension, for about five or six years, of the Coalition’s.

Fraser: The right goes all mushy

Thursday, 27 May 2010   Political figures   19 comments 

The problem for Fraser is not that the Liberals are moving to the right as such but that there is no real basis for them doing so.

A losing game for Labor

Tuesday, 20 October 2009   Tactics   5 comments 

What’s worse, earning a trade out of human misery or making politics out of it?

Only the end of the beginning

Monday, 28 September 2009   International relations   6 comments 

Before a sunrise, there has to be a sunset.

Too big to fail

Monday, 30 March 2009   International relations   2 comments 

In effect the US government is putting an economic gun to the head of the other major economic powers and doing to the rest of the world what the major US financial institutions did to it.

End of an era: The Liberals

Thursday, 20 December 2007   State of the parties  Comments Off on End of an era: The Liberals 

If the Liberals’ problems are only about Howard being in charge, now that he has gone, their problems should be over, right?

The unmentionable rears its head

Thursday, 22 November 2007   Tactics  Comments Off on The unmentionable rears its head 

Howard is right in saying that Labor is a friend to terrorism is not part of his campaign. The question is, why not?

Hand it to them on a plate …

Thursday, 11 October 2007   Tactics  Comments Off on Hand it to them on a plate … 

The danger with McClelland’s speech was that it momentarily revealed Labor’s core weakness. Labor is a party that has lost its historic role and its basis for representing the interests of a significant section of the electorate. Adrift from a real social base, its policies had reflected more the moral positions of a group of individuals like the Australian Democrats than that of a party of government. That was the truth that was glimpsed last election with Latham’s forestry stance and came back again on Monday night.

Me-tooism, but not you

Wednesday, 10 October 2007   Media analysis  Comments Off on Me-tooism, but not you 

Tactically, Rob McClelland’s proposal to oppose the death penalty for the Bali bombers would have to be the worst thing to have come from Labor’s campaign all year. It was so off-message that reports Rudd did not know the content of the speech could be credible.

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